Tuesday, November 22, 2016

"HERE is a way" - The Logic of One Pilgrim

A couple of Cushman-Plymouth souvenirs.

My people
have been in this land for almost four hundred years. Yes, my
ancestors came over on the Mayflower. And after starvation and
suffering from exposure and all kinds of suffering, the “Pilgrims”
at Plymouth found gratitude beneath their blanket of hardship. What
WERE they thinking?!

We should care what they
were thinking, because no other migration ever set into motion the
wealth of Providential events we have seen on our continent over the
centuries. Largely under-utilized before its “discovery” by
Columbus, the New World soon provided much of the food, inventions
and progress which blessed mankind ever since. We as Americans have
lived and celebrated the greatest, most advanced and prosperous
nation in human history. So it is easy to forget that it all had a
very ugly start.

A full half of the
pilgrims died the first year. Those who survived shared
homesickness, starvation, exposure to the elements and unbearable
grief.

There were no doctors, or
stores or letters from home. The Natives watched from the treeline
and pitied them. Soon they were bringing them essential help. The
first miracle God provided was a Native American in this remote
wilderness who spoke English, and who could and would help them get
through those first months.

At the first harvest on
their primitive plantation, they instinctively threw a festival of
sorts, and invited their aboriginal neighbors over for a thanksgiving
feast! WHAT were they thinking! They could have been easily massacred right then. But their
faith was strong that the worst was behind them, and God was in
charge. Strangely, hardship and mortality bring us closer to our Maker. Instead of cursing God for their painful saga, they were singing God's praises. This suggests that a happy, prosperous people (like us) will never grow towards God, but away from Him.

A short while later the
pilgrims held their first worship service led by one of their elected
shepherds, (and my ancestor) deacon Robert Cushman. Cushman had
helped expedite their adventure and originally embarked with them on
a separate ship, the “Speedwell” which almost sank, and was
forced to turn back. He had just arrived from England with supplies
and welcome news from their homes. And he gave them a prepared
sermon, recognized as the first (recorded) sermon delivered on
American soil, in December of 1621.

It was a warning to avoid
self-pity and narcissism, or “self-love” as he called it, and he
challenged them to think not of themselves but the ultimate success
of the colony. Deacon Cushman commanded them to be heroes, and
nothing less. And this is why: Cushman had looked down the road at
their home in Europe. A great deal was at stake. He wrote in the
dedication of his historic sermon this rationale...

“And if it should please
God to punish his people, in the Christian countries of Europe (for
their coldness, carnality, wanton abuse of the gospel, contention,
etc.,) either by Turkish slavery, or by popish tyranny, which God
forbid, yet if the time be come, or shall come (as who knoweth?)
when Satan shall be let loose to cast out his floods against them,here is a way opened for such as have wings to fly into this
wilderness...” He
saw a grand strategy at work, and these pilgrims would serve an
essential role... “ so a light
may rise up in the dark.”

To Robert Cushman, the
world was going to hell in a corrupted European handbasket, and the
fate of Christian civilization (and thus mankind) could very well
have rested in those hands which cupped this “candle in the wind”
in the New World.

Robert Cushman was right
about Europe... long before Napoleon and the so-called
“Enlightenment” and apostasy became the backbone of European
intellect. America did carry the ball for Christ for the next few
hundred years... and it all started with great sacrifice and
discipline like that in Plymouth.

In hindsight, most of us
would agree that it was worth it. We are the most fortunate of
peoples to live in a land established by God's hand-picked heroes of
Faith. And there is no secret as to how they accomplished this
amazing legacy. The slogan “In God We Trust” had deep origins
rooted in blood and tears.

The pilgrims were not just
a random assortment of boat passengers. Even from the beginning, they
were representatives of two very different lots. The leaders and
believers in Christ were called “Saints” and the rest of the
people, workers and sailors, were “Strangers.” The pilgrims
understood that they must partner with and work alongside strangers
who did not share their beliefs or value system. They kept their
faith and obeyed God and let Him sort things out. That partnership
gave birth to the greatest nation on earth.

Today we must remember how
and what and WHO got us where we are. Humbly. Gratefully. On this
Thanksgiving, as our country slips into cynicism and
self-sufficiency, Americans must ask themselves, if they want to
enter the next chapter in our history without the guidance and
support of a God who has blessed us so greatly... Because without
Him we will be no better off than most other countries in the world.
And they had a huge head-start on us, but can never match American exceptionalism.

And unlike in Robert Cushman's paradigm, there is no next place to
fly.

WELCOME

A river of Texas history, music, art and travel articles

Welcome to my "Stream of Consciousness," where I hope to give readers an artist's view of the local color and current issues of Navasota Texas, a place I have grown to love and have enjoyed for many years. Many legendary characters have made historic contributions to our incredible scrapbook, that all flow together into our story like so many streams feeding into the historic Navasota River Valley. You will find articles about Local History, Art, Navasota's Hall of Fame, our Music scene, some Political opinions, and a few original songs! So go ahead, and dip your toe into the Navasota Current!

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About this Blogger

A sixth generation Texan, landscape painter, sculptor, photographer, writer and historian, Russell Cushman shares his passion for the music, art and history of the Brazos Valley.
Russell has a blog about his art career, russellcushmanart.blogspot.com, and A great deal of his art can be viewed at his website, www.russellcushman.com.